Covered Wagon Roof

oilitright · 12-15-2011, 07:02 PM

I've been working on my bus conversion for a few years now. A few years ago I decided on making it look like a covered wagon and painted like it shows in these pictures.

I have been pretty satisfied with the results with the exception that for some reason the "canvas" roof has not held up very well with the paint having come off nearly 50% of the roof surface.

On the ceiling inside I installed canvas and the effect is quite good. With the wood floor and wood on the walls up to the windows and the canvas on the ceiling you can get the feel of being inside a wagon.

What I'm wondering about now is the idea on installing canvas to the outside roof. If you all have any suggestions or input on how best to accomplish this I'd appreciate hearing from you. Mostly I'm wondering about what sort of adhesive to mount the canvas and or what to seal and weather proof it. The canvas I was going to use is fairly light weight like is sold at home improvement stores as heavy duty painter's drop cloths.

I've thought about using bus coat to adhere it underneath and then seal it on top. I wondered about maybe using like fiber glass resin. White Henry's? I just don't know.

lornaschinske · 12-15-2011, 07:49 PM

Henry's Solarflex leaves a "textured" finish. Perhaps if you roll on the two coats (fuzzy roller) and the last coat is rolled on with a smooth foam roller, it will look more like fabric. I would suggest you buy a gallon and try it first on a piece of scrap metal or wood. As for it being "very white" Don't worry, road grime and birds will take care of that. The front and rear caps could be left as is. I don't think I would leave real fabric up there. Even with using fabric made for exterior use, it still requires special treatment.

TygerCub · 12-15-2011, 07:52 PM

I'd have reservations about attaching fabric to the metal. It seems to me it would tend to hold moisture, and possibly excellerates rusting.

However, one of the strongest adhesives I can think about that might serve as a sealant as well is the old fashioned contact cement (like Weldwood). You would have to use quiet a lot, and paint the surface after it's dry, but it should work.

Good luck!

bus-bro · 12-15-2011, 08:02 PM

Great paint job for sure.

Bonding with epoxy can be a problem. It doesn't flex. Don't think Buskote would bond the canvas to the roof good enough to avoid it all coming off in a sheet. I'm thinking, but I don't have an answer.

Diesel Dan · 12-15-2011, 08:13 PM

This may be an off-beat idea, but find out what Disney World and other theme parks use to create their installations. They make all kinds of structures using some sort of rubbery plastic-like substance that they can make look like anything, including fabric.

wtd · 12-15-2011, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TygerCub

...
However, one of the strongest adhesives I can think about that might serve as a sealant as well is the old fashioned contact cement (like Weldwood). You would have to use quiet a lot, and paint the surface after it's dry, but it should work.

Good luck!

I'd agree with this - several coats of flat polyu after it's dry. Clear finish will let the fabric texture show, paint will fill up the texture and it'll just look like a thick coat of paint.

Might also look into what they used for vinyl tops - we all remember vinyl tops don't we?

Love the paint job ...
Tom

lornaschinske · 12-15-2011, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TygerCub

... However, one of the strongest adhesives I can think about that might serve as a sealant as well is the old fashioned contact cement (like Weldwood)...

Do not use contact cement. It does not hold up to getting wet very well. It WILL fail if it gets wet both often enough and long enough.

wtd · 12-16-2011, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

Do not use contact cement. It does not hold up to getting wet very well. It WILL fail if it gets wet both often enough and long enough.

That's one of the reasons a coating was suggested.

Tom

Accordion · 12-16-2011, 04:09 AM

Cool looking bus. Do you have any pictures of the inside that you could show us?

Is that a campground that you stay at?

mchunt · 12-16-2011, 07:16 PM

Personally, I think you are better off keeping with the faux canvas paint job. But if you are determined to put something that looks like real canvas on the outside I can think of a couple of ways to go.

First way would be to sculpt sections out of fiberglass and screw them on to the roof. You could even make a mold. Lots of information of sculpting and molding fibrglass on the internet.
Upside of this approach would be that you get a smooth surface that should be easy to clean, it's also light and you could make the roof look puffier. You could even create a void between the bus roof and the fiberglass roof that could be filled with spray foam insulation.

Another way would be to embed some type of cloth, maybe burlap, in many, many layers of elastomeric roof coating. I think you could put down a thick coat and then while it was still wet, embed the cloth into it to get a draped looked. Once that is dry, put like 6 coats over the cloth with a brush making sure the cloth is completely covered. I think this would work but i would question it's long term durablity.

Scratch what I said about burlap, you could use a synthetic shade cloth and embed that is elastomeric.http://www.gemplers.com/shop/shade-cloth-b

TygerCub · 12-17-2011, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

Do not use contact cement. It does not hold up to getting wet very well. It WILL fail if it gets wet both often enough and long enough.

Actually, the really nasty, caustic stuff (the original contact cement) will hold up fantastically. I'm not talking about the new, low VOC, water soluable pansy stuff. I'm talkin' the mates-for-life, super bonding elephant snot. Boyscouts use this stuff on their 'canvas kayaks'. Literally coat the canvas, glue it to the wood, paint with exterior latex, and paddle away. I just didn't mention the painting part in the first post.

That being said, however, I do prefer mchunt's idea of sculpting fiberglass over foam to look like a real canvas cover. The idea could be expanded to make the vertical supports look more rounded. There's all kinds of fun things that can be done with foam and fiberglass!

pipopak · 12-17-2011, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TygerCub

Quote:

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

Do not use contact cement. It does not hold up to getting wet very well. It WILL fail if it gets wet both often enough and long enough.

Actually, the really nasty, caustic stuff (the original contact cement) will hold up fantastically. I'm not talking about the new, low VOC, water soluable pansy stuff. I'm talkin' the mates-for-life, super bonding elephant snot. Boyscouts use this stuff on their 'canvas kayaks'. Literally coat the canvas, glue it to the wood, paint with exterior latex, and paddle away. I just didn't mention the painting part in the first post.

That being said, however, I do prefer mchunt's idea of sculpting fiberglass over foam to look like a real canvas cover. The idea could be expanded to make the vertical supports look more rounded. There's all kinds of fun things that can be done with foam and fiberglass!

I like it!. Whenever you need crazy ideas LMK, according to everybody who knows me I am a nutcase on the loose!.

lornaschinske · 12-17-2011, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TygerCub

Quote:

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

Do not use contact cement. It does not hold up to getting wet very well. It WILL fail if it gets wet both often enough and long enough.

Actually, the really nasty, caustic stuff (the original contact cement) will hold up fantastically. I'm not talking about the new, low VOC, water soluable pansy stuff. I'm talkin' the mates-for-life, super bonding elephant snot. Boyscouts use this stuff on their 'canvas kayaks'. Literally coat the canvas, glue it to the wood, paint with exterior latex, and paddle away. I just didn't mention the painting part in the first post.

The last time we bought the "real deal" in other words the professional stuff in 5 gallon buckets because we were building a custom laminate countertop, we had to sign forms and PROVE (with tax id's) that we were buying it for our business. But maybe they have loosened up the rules on that. I didn't think they sold that stuff anymore. I know the EPA, among others, was trying to phase it out back in the early 90's.

TygerCub · 12-20-2011, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by "lornaschinske

The last time we bought the "real deal" in other words the professional stuff in 5 gallon buckets because we were building a custom laminate countertop, we had to sign forms and PROVE (with tax id's) that we were buying it for our business. But maybe they have loosened up the rules on that. I didn't think they sold that stuff anymore. I know the EPA, among others, was trying to phase it out back in the early 90's.

That may still be true for a full 5 gallon bucket. My local blue box lumber store doesn't carry anything in that quantity, but they will sell you as many little quarts of the crap as you can carry out the door and not bat an eye.

lornaschinske · 12-20-2011, 11:14 AM

That's NOT the same stuff. At a guess, we are talking about two different products. While some of the industrial contact cement we used was made by Weldwood, it was not the same stuff as what was sold in the small cans in any hardware store. We've used both the stuff sold to consumers and the pro stuff. The consumer stuff does not hold as well or as long. It's okay and does the job, but just not as good.

oilitright · 12-26-2011, 07:23 PM

I'll try the Henry;s Solarflex, I was leery of the fabric idea and the responses so far haven't instilled a great deal of confidence

Does anyone have thought on adding something to either the solarflex or other elastomeric coating to enhance texture? What about tinting buskote (what would tint buskote or other elastomeric coatings?)

I do plan to post some interior photos, I just got it cleaned out again as I had used it for a moving van for recent relocation.

The pictures were taken at an RV Park (dare I say resort) that I managed for 4 years in Oregon, since retired and relocated to high desert in California.

oilitright · 12-26-2011, 07:24 PM

I'll try the Henry;s Solarflex, I was leery of the fabric idea and the responses so far haven't instilled a great deal of confidence

Does anyone have thought on adding something to either the solarflex or other elastomeric coating to enhance texture? What about tinting buskote (what would tint buskote or other elastomeric coatings?)

I do plan to post some interior photos, I just got it cleaned out again as I had used it for a moving van for recent relocation.

The pictures were taken at an RV Park (dare I say resort) that I managed for 4 years in Oregon, since retired and relocated to high desert in California.

Sculpting panels is a litt;e more then I feel comfortable trying.

mchunt · 12-31-2011, 04:39 PM

I don't think the fabric idea is all together bad if you use a synthetic cloth. I think you should try it out before committing to the entire roof. You might build a 4 ft wide "model" section and see how it works.

I'm not sure what you mean by

Quote:

adding something to either the solarflex or other elastomeric coating to enhance texture

Do you mean something like a non-skid additive?

As far as adding something for color, since the elastomeric coating is water based I think you could add the same tinting used for any water based paint. Do a search for "univeral tints" on Amazon.

You may also like: